PAGES

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED – THE RETURN!

Steve Holland’s excellent website (Bear Alley) focusing on British comics and illustrations breaks the news about the return of an icon – albiet only on the shores of Albion.

The classic American series Classics Illustrated is returning to the UK in September, with the first issues of Classics Illustrated and Classics Illustrated Junior available in W. H. Smiths from 25 September. The new series will also be available at selected Borders and other high street retailers and independent newsagents. The new series is also being distributed in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Eire.

The new series will launch with two titles: The War of the Worlds aimed at 8-14-year-olds and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs for younger readers of 5 to 8. The publisher is Classic Comic Store Ltd., run by Jeff Brooks, who has been a collector and dealer in Classics Illustrated for some time. The books are licensed from Jack Lake Productions of Canada who hold the copyright on behalf of First Classics Inc. Although reprinting the original books, the artwork has been digitally enhanced to give a fresh feel to both colour and quality of the graphics.

The books will retail at £2.99 and (for juniors) £2.50. Future issues will include Oliver Twist, Robin Hood, The Man in the Iron Mask, Romeo and Juliet and A Journey to the Centre of the Earth; the junior line will continue with The Ugly Duckling, Cinderella, The Pied Piper, The Sleeping Beauty, The 3 Little Pigs and Jack and the Beanstalk.

Jeff Brooks has said, "These classic novels have introduced several generations of children to the greatest characters in literature—Oliver Twist, Long John Silver, d'Artagnan, Quasimodo and Hamlet, to name just a few—and have fuelled their desire to read the original works.

"At a time when we see children reading less and our literacy rates are a great worry, the graphic novel has the potential to get reluctant readers engaged in these wonderful stories. We can see these being widely supported in schools as well and we have added new material to stretch the reader with discussion topics and a timeline of what was happening in the world when the book was first published."

1 comment:

I grew up as a reluctant reader. Now I write action-adventures & mysteries, especially for boys 8 and up, that kids hate to put down. My web site is at http://www.maxbooks.9k.com and my Books for Boys blog is at http://booksandboys.blogspot.comRanked by Accelerated Reader